La Chatte Gitane (or The Gypsy Cat) was the name we chose for our cottage in France. We chose it while on the road, moving home, from Ireland to France with 2 dogs and 7 cats in the car.

This blog began its insignificant life as a recipe book for friends and family who would ask me repeatedly for a recipe of this, that and the other.

Since then it has taken many different directions, like gypsies tend to do. Sometimes making a U-turn and revisiting familiar roads and taking a break when necessary.

You'll find recipes here, but also musings about the places we've called home, the gardens that we've established, not always successfully, the homes we've improved and the environments we've lived in. Currently, that is back in Ireland.

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Thursday, May 18, 2017

On the Farm

Over the winter months our hens and roosters have been picked off one by one by a fox, until we had only 2 chickens left. We only have one of our first chooks still here, but she's not in these pictures as she's sitting on a nest. Good girl.

This big boy is Sigi and he's our fourth cockerel in the period of a year. Around this time last year we had a visit from the mink and that beast killed the boy of that time and four girls.
Our feathered friends are not allowed to extreme free-range in the garden anymore. They now stay in their run with 4 ultrasonic fox deterrents and electric fence, the latter is in the process of being installed.

Ah, the ducks ! We had 3 female and one male. Now we have only 2 girls and himself, Cyril.
One of the girls flew off, came back, flew off, came back..... flew off and never came back. I think Cyril then went looking for her, because he also flew off and didn't come back either. Luckily he was spotted at his old home at our friends/neighbours. It was a full 2 weeks before he could be caught and was delivered back to his girls. Not before we clipped one of his wings though. We managed to do the same with the ducks just after he left for his holiday.

We still have 2 pigs, they've been with us for a year now, but soon it'll be time for them to go. 😩

Oh, we did catch the mink. Seeing they live a solitary life and have their territory, we're confident (famous last words) that we don't have another mink around at the moment. Eventually there will be another one making this place his/hers kingdom though.

Many years ago I kept a few chickens, and I loved it. Until they got out. They were on an allotment, in a lovely big coop, but sometimes they'd get out and cause chaos. Then a massive rat killed one of the chickens, after that I just couldn't bear to keep them any more. Nasty experience.